"I think I saw a sign to a medieval fair earlier. Let's see how they made that work on a cruise ship", Andy suggested.
As they walked over there, Andy couldn't help but how his now tighter clothes were hugging his body. He expected them to be constricting when moving, but suprisingly enough, it felt really comfortable. And he did attact looks from both genders, as he walked the corridors, just as Holland did.
When they finally arrived at the deck where the medieval fair was installed, they found it pretty breathtaking. The ground was covered with dirt and hay, so walking did not feel like he was on a ship at all. On it, several tents and wodden shacks were built, no sign of plastic or aluminium anywhere. If Andy did have any doubts that this was a severe violation of basically all fire regulations in the world, he spied - and smelled - several open fires, some with meat grilling over it, some with people around them, talking, laughing and some even singing.
Even the walls did not look like they belonged to the same ship. Where they weren't occluded by smoke or shacks, the looked woodden and old, not like the cruise ship he expected.
He was kind of glad his clothes had changed so mysteriously, because otherwise he would be standing out a lot: Everyone here seemed to be wearing simple, medieval style clothes - way more authentic than any renaissance fair he knew from home. In fact, Andy couldn't even distinguish between resort guests and staff - but he assumed the staff would probably be the ones who tended to the various shops and tents.
There was a lot to see; they passed a juggler who was handling five knives at once, and several other showpeople showing what they could do. There were several interesting places, as well. On just the way they came, Andy saw a fortune tellers tent, a house of mirrors and even a hedge maze, labelled the "Maze of Mind". But there was a certain sound he was almost magically drawn to: The sound of metal clinging together. It was not the blacksmith, which they passed, but actually a small arena with an assortment of different weapons laid on on a table. "Practice your sword skills", the sign said.
"That." Andy pointed. "This should be fun, right?"
Holland nodded. "Yeah. Care for a bit of sparring?"
Andy could hardly contain his excitement. He even took a sword in his hand before, but it was like every part of his being longed to practice with one. He looked around and saw the owner of the tent, who just nodded to him.
"Alright. I'll take this one", Andy said, choosing a massive bastard sword. It was suprisingly heavy: It was obvious that this was the real thing. Sharp and made of steel, not some light rubber or aluminium. He wasn't even sure he would be able to lift it, but something inside told him, it would be fine.
"He. Let's see..." Holland took more time with his choice, finally settling on an elegant rapier. He took the weapon with the right, hiding his left behind his back.
"En garde!" He exclaimed, as the two of them had entered the arena. Immediately after, Holland executed a quick strike against Andy, who had only fractions of a second to react.
It was, however, as if he had muscle memory from years of training with a heavy weapon. He raised the bastard sword in a quick and fluid motion and brought it between himself and Hollands Rapier, producing a metallic sound, as the smaller, quicker weapon was blocked. Immediately, Andy started a counterattack, forcing the weight of the weapon into a strong swing, seeking to overpower the defense of the smaller blade.
However, even though he was using the more elegant weapon, Holland still had the body of a body builder and managed to block Andys hit with only minimal effort.
The pace quickened, and before long, Andy and Holland were exchanging blows like the never had done anything different in their lifes, composing a song of metal hitting metal that reverberated throughout the deck.
In time, they had attracted quite a crowd around them, as they danced to that song, swinging their swords against each other again and again. Sweat was glistening on both of their bodies, and with every mighty heave, Andy felt his muscles swell against his clothes. It was a shame he didn't think to take his shirt off, since he was absolutely soaking it with sweat, leaving no feature hidden underneath to the imagination. He would need to take it off and let it dry afterwards.
At least, Holland didn't seem to fare much better. He too was soaked in sweat and needed to swipe his brow from time to time, his longer hair flowing after him with every elegant movement.
That gave Andy an idea however. Seeing how Holland seemed more and more distracted by Andys body, showing through his shirt and the different bulges in his tight pants, Andy decided to give him a show, flexed his muscles and scratched his groin as if it was itching with his left hand. A split second later, however, his right brought down a massive blow with his bastard sword against the distracted holland, finally breaching his defense.
Holland reacted too late, but not unclever. Instead of trying to block the blow, his rapier whizzed up, as he brought the blade up to Andys neck just as his bastard sword carefully grazed his own. It was a draw.
The crowd around them cheered wildly, and Andy felt good, standing in the center of attention with Holland. As he did a little bow for the audience, he realized Morgan among them, with her trademark smirk on her face, watching the two of them. She quickly disappeared into the lots of people though, as if slipping away from his gaze.